Protest Prods Riot Geared Police to Shut Down San Ysidro Crossing

Audio

Aired 4/19/09

CHP officers in riot gear have shut down all southbound traffic lanes at San Ysidro. Hundreds of Mexican teachers are blocking the world's busiest border crossing. The teachers are protesting a law that raises their retirement age by 10 years. Meanwhile, some 20,000 students in Tijuana can't go to class.

KPBS reporter Amy Isackson is in Tijuana. She says there are 200 to 300 teachers at the border.

Many of them were very apologetic that they've had to do this. They know that people in the United States are not happy, that this affects business in San Ysidro, in Tijuana, and further south in Baja California as well. And they were apologetic but saying that they're at their wit's end, and they felt that doing this, closing the international border was finally a way that they could attract attention to their cause and effect some change.

That's Amy Isackson reporting from Tijuana. She says the teachers plan to end their protest in time for the Friday afternoon commute.